AN; Sorry for the long wait. The anxiety of the US elections the fact that half the people at my work got Covid, and I was exposed too,
had me on edge. I hope I didn't lose the few readers I had. But I reached my goal of 567 reads and 116 votes! The new goal is 1000 reads and 200 votes. I doubt I will reach those goals, but always aim high!
Thanks for reading. Sam<3
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Trees flew past me as my paws glided silently over the snow. Mist poured from my mouth with every exhale of breath I took. I inhale the bitter cold air deeply and sorted through the smells that it held.

Pine needles.

A fox.

A dear carcass.

A wolf.

I stopped in my tracks and turned my head to the left and then the right while I tried to pinpoint the scent trial. And then I found it, with a soft winter breeze rolling in from the south.

I grabbed the scent and ran towards it. When I was almost upon its source I slowed down and crept forward, and then I stopped.

A boy with unruly brown hair sat criss-cross in the snow with his back turned away from me. A soft rhythmic hum escaped his lips. He didn't seem to be aware of my presence, at least not yet.

I took one step out into the clearing and abruptly the humming stopped. Not ready to lose the element of surprise, I turned and retreated back to thick pine branches. I waited to see what the boy would do next but he did nothing. He sat, unmoving, while the steady, slow rhythmic thumping continued in my ears.

"Hello," the boy said, breaking the silence of the snow-covered woods. He turned to look in my direction. His green eyes seemed to glow ever so slightly in the dimly lit forest. "I know you're there. The spirits told me you were coming, although I don't think I was expecting you so soon. Come out, we have much to talk about."
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I was jerked awake by the sound of raised voices. I sat up in bed and rubbed my face to brush away the lingering traces of sleep from my eyes. Gray morning light was slipping through the window into our room and made the room look like it was made of light and shadow.

Morning? Was it morning already? I felt a twinge of disappointment. Grayson hadn't visited in my dreams last night...

"You don't want him to visit you." my inner voice reminded me.

Downstairs, I could hear Burt and Theodore talking to each other loudly. I couldn't make out what they were saying but I was in no rush to find out what they were fighting about. I wanted to enjoy a little section of peace I had in the morning, before the weight of all the anxiety from day-to-day life came crashing down on me.

I got out of bed and bent over and gathered the dirty clothes that had begun gathering on the floor, before tossing them into the basket we kept beside our door. I had a feeling all the chores would be house chores since I was positive that Bert would try to keep everyone inside as much as possible.  Not that I would be here to help with the chores anyway. I had a long shift at the dinner ahead of me.

My eyes began to search the room for Beatrice's duffle bag from the night of the party. My uniform was most likely still scrunched up inside it. And if that was the case, I would have to iron it out in the basement.

Beatrice let out a loud yawn from her bed and opened her round blue eyes. We locked eyes and a sleepy smile spread across her face. "Oh, I was having the best dream ever! I dreamed that I was in a Shakespeare play at a high school. I got to play Juliet, and when I finally drank the poison at the end, there wasn't a dry eye in the whole theater!"

"That's nice," I replied. "Where is your bag? I have to get dressed for work."

"It's under my bed, but be careful. I still have my wine hidden in there still!"

I knelt down on my hands and retrieved the bag, unzipped it, and retrieve a white and red striped skirt and white button-down top. I scrutinized the outfit in the dim light. It wasn't as wrinkly as I had expected it to be.  I replaced the bag and its secret in its hiding spot.

"What play are they doing at the high school?"

I shrugged, "Not sure, I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff."

"Ugh, you can be the worse sometimes Aurelia! Oh well, I guess I can always find out once I'm there."

I nodded my head absently.

I changed into the uniform and went downstairs.

"Have a good day at work!" Beatrice called after me.

By the time I reached the bottom of the steps, Bert and Theodore were nowhere to be found. I stopped at the many coats hanging on the wall, grabbed my parka, and put it on, so I didn't freeze to death before work.

Before I went into the kitchen I glanced up at the grandfather clock. The hands were pointed at 7 and 6, I didn't have much time, Bert picked me up at 745, so I could be at the dinner by 8 for the morning shift.

I found Alice, Ron, Sawyer, and Juliet standing around the kitchen table, while Marmee pulled a plate of fresh biscuits out of the oven.

"Morning," Sawyer said and reached over to grab one of the rolls Marmee had just placed on the counter.

Marmee slapped his hand away before his fingers could wrap around the flakey dough of the biscuit.

"Just missed it, Theodore was supposed to go and check the box with Charolette, instead of her going alone, but he overslept. She went without him, without telling anyone. Bert was so mad."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Why?"

"You know how Charolette is."

Charolette was the type that didn't like to make a fuss. She moved through her life silently as she could. I also tried to move silently through life, but my movements had more direction and a purpose.

"Yeah."

I crept over to the tray of biscuits and grabbed one before Marmeecould knock my hand away. And hurried out the door, before she could yell at me for not waiting till they cooled down.

The second I stepped out, a strong gust of wind nearly knocked me over. I struggled up the rest of the driveway, fighting just to stay on my feet until I stood shivering in the snow waiting for my ride to carry me off to a world of egg, bacon, and coffee. The wind began to roar fiercely behind me and I hunch forward to keep the wind from biting my ears.

Suddenly something other than the wind filled my ears. It was a scream. It was too brief for me to be sure it was real, but so different from the wind's cries to have been imagined.  I turned to look at the thick pine trees that laid behind me. And the wind rewarded my efforts by flinging snow into my face and forced my head towards the road.

Richard's dark green truck appeared down at the far end of the snowy road. Snow and ice crunched loudly under its large tiers, while it crept steadily forward.

I climbed into the front seat and peered through the window at the trees. But I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Looking for something?"  Richard asked.

I shook my head. "Thought I heard something."

The rest of the drive was silent, Richard dropped me off from the dinner and I hurried inside its glass doors.

The dinner was empty besides a single dinner sitting in one of the mint green booths

"Liar, liar pants on fire!" Annie called across the counter to me. Her blue eyes sparkled under the blond curls.

I stopped and looked around. I was unsure who she was talking to.

"Yes, you!" she pointed to me and grin?

I stared at her wordlessly.

What was she talking about what was she accusing me of lying about?

"You told me that you didn't have a boyfriend. That was obviously a lie too."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"That boy sitting at the booth over there. He told me he was waiting for you to come in..." she trailed off. I could only imagine what my face looked like at that moment.

"Go in the back, I'll tell him to leave."

I shook my head, "Now let me take care of it."

I walked towards the booth, but stopped in my tracks when I saw who was sitting in it. My heart began to hammer in my chest. Why was he here and how had he know where to find me?